Reviewers, spin crews tussle over Tomb Raider: Underworld write-ups

The UK PR firm working with gaming giant Eidos has denied that it asked a writer to delay the publication of a Tomb Raider: Underworld review if he’d given it less than 80 per cent.

The latest in the Lara Croft line was released on 21 November in the UK, but on 19 November journalist Guy Cocker told the world that he’d been asked to hold back the review until 24 November - if his overall score was lower than the ideal.

But Simon Byron, a director at the PR firm in question - Barrington Harvey - has rebuffed Cocker’s claims in a statement published by website Videogaming247.

“Our original NDA stated that in order to receive an advance copy of the game, reviewers agreed not to post reviews ahead of 5:00pm, Wednesday, 19 November 2008. Nothing else,” claimed Byron. He added that any reviewer “is entirely within their rights to post whatever score they want and no one is under any sort of obligation to delay any review”.

So just what score did Cocker give the game? Seven out of ten.

Admittedly, this isn’t the score Barrington Harvey or Eidos may have hoped for. But Cocker did mention in his review that the game has an “excellent mix of outdoor, underground and underwater locations” with “some excellent level and puzzle design”.

Tomb Raider: Underworld is available now for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, priced at around £38 ($65/€45) - find the best prices here.